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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

I have again used the Children at Play fabric collection by Sarah Jane, this time using the more boy orientated fabrics: rockets, bikes, kites and paper hats in the blue, green, orange and yellow color palette.

I have used numerous other prints in addition to the Children at Play collection, including a stripe print and several larger scale dot prints. Although I have generally remained true to the initial color palette I love how the overall feel of this quilt top has been changed by these additions.

I have also added a off-white border around the outer edge of the quilt and although it doesn't have great appeal right now, I do think it will look great once a high contrast binding has been added to finish the quilt.

I am keen to start quilting this one as I think it will add a little more interest and texture to these fairly large size blocks.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

A parcel arrived in the mail today which in itself is not unusual, but this one ~ from the Doll Quilt Swap Group ~ I had been stalking the postman for rather impatiently and was therefore a welcome sight.

How cute it this? Made by Mary from Mary on Lake Pulaski these teeny tiny squares are just 1/2 inch squares. The quilt itself measures only 9 1/2 inches x 9 1/2 inches and is called Rainbow Trip Around the World ~ it is perfect in every way!

I really love these tiny squares, the matching seams, and the flowing colors. Mary, you know me well! You've made the perfect doll quilt, perfectly pieced and quilted, in a timeless layout that I truly love.

This doll quilt is already hanging on the wall together with a growing collection of doll quilts. There it will be admired every day.

More doll quilts can be seen in the Flickr DQS Group. Join up for the next swap round!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

I have picked up the "text" fabrics from the Annie's Farm Stand collection called Seed Catalog. Seed Catalog comes in four different colorways as pictured, although the white text on a white backgrounds is a little difficult to capture in image.

These will make a nice addition to my slowly growing fabric stash of words, letters and numbers (see Sunday Stash #87) which I like to incorporate into a quilt to add a little whimsy and interest.

Purchased fromFresh Modern Fabric(Etsy)as a FQ bundle and also available from:

For additional solid fabric for the borders I have used a Moda Bella Solid fabric in the colorway White. It perfectly matches the background fabric of the Children at Play collection. The solid fabric used for the back of the quilt is Robert Kaufman Kona cotton in Pearl Pink; the softest and prettiest pink.

For binding fabric I have used a red and white pin stripe. No surprises there!

Oh, and while I was at it ~ in a burst of unbridled energy and enthusiasm ~ I whipped up a matching pillow! I may have got myself a tumbler block bug (and yes, the Accuquilt fabric cutter does make is so easy to cut and piece the pieces together).

The back of the pillow features a leftover piece of Children at Play - Parade - the same as used for the large quilt border. (I have used interfacing to give this fabric some stability and extra durability). The pillow cover has a zippered back for easy insert removal and cleaning.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

And this is going to be a quilt just for the girls. All pretty in pink, and red, and blue ... always a winning combination for the girly girl.

I have picked out numerous prints from the Children at Play fabric collection by Sarah Jane (see Sunday Stash #106) and mixed in just a few other prints including a bold Michael Miller polka dot fabric on a red background, and a light blue/white stripe from From Little Things by Sarah Fielke.

Not much planning went into making this quilt top. The half square triangle border that surrounds the center panel is a direct result of an attempt to use up some of the strips of fabric that I had cut incorrectly.

The large scale border fabric (Children at Play - On Parade - Multi) however was always part of the overall grand plan.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Treasures and Tidbits designed by Linda Jenkins and Becky Goldsmith from Piece O' Cake Designs:

Dots, spots and daisies! There is a lot of vibrant color here and quite possibly this is another one of those fabric collections that is complete without adding anything else to it (much like It's a Hoot by Moda). Or if you feel that the overall mix of color and pattern is a little busy, add a solid white fabric to this collection to give the eye a place to rest and you'll have a fresh and colorful project.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Aah! So it might seem that I have been sitting idle this week, perhaps taken a little breather, but things are not always as they seem! I have made a quilt this week; pieced a top, prepared the backing, basted, and quilted a quilt, all in the last few days. Unfortunately it's one of those secretprojects, and I can't show it to you yet. Not just yet. Not even the snippets of fabric of the yet to be released fabric collection by some clever Aussie girls that covered the floor of my sewing area. Sorry ...

But ... I can show you my finished knitting project. I know, it's not a quilt, but I am still working my way through a knitting phase and have again enjoyed knitting a shawl. The pattern is Cladonia by Kristen Kapur from Through the Loops Designs, and this is my second version of this shawl. See my first Cladonia Shawl here.

The yarn is Madelinetosh Merino Light in Silver Fox and Plucky Knitter Primo Fingering in "That Old Feeling". I am still a novice at choosing yarn for a color study project and it took several color changes before I was happy to proceed with this project.

This project looks so much more impressive and complicated than what it actually is to knit. If you're keen to try your hand at a lace knitting project I can highly recommend this pattern; the pattern involves not much more than a yo, ssk, k2tog and plenty of stitch markers. It's very do-able.

See more pictures and all the details of this project on Ravelry ~ here: Cladonia.

Monday, August 15, 2011

I really enjoyed making this quilt; not only because I got to use a fabric cutter to cut out all of the triangles but also for the fabric play. It's messy business pulling fabric from stash, auditioning, arranging and re-arranging the fabrics of choice, and then of course changing my mind, but it is definitely one of my favorite parts of quilt making.

And for the back of the quilt I have used another print from Organic Marine by Dan Stiles for Birch. These high quality organic fabrics have truly been a pleasure to work with and combine together as a fun collection of marine prints to make a great little boy (or girl!) quilt.

For binding fabric I have chosen a blue and white pin stripe (by A Day in the Country ~ available locally in a great range of colors from GJ Discount Fabrics). It perfectly matches the other blues used in the quilt and adds the perfect edge/frame to this nautical themed quilt.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

The recently released fabric collection Children at Play is Sarah Jane's first fabric collection for Michael Miller. Sarah Jane is a talented children's illustrator and has a thrivingEtsy Storewhere she sells adorable prints in all sizes, paper puppets, and embroideries of her work. The world of fabric is a better place now that Sarah's illustrations are featured in this extensive fabric collection.

There are 52 prints in the Children at Play range. There are prints for little girls; dolls, dresses, hopscotch ... and also prints that little boys love; rockets, paper hats, bicycles ... creative play and childhood memories.

And like most good fabric collections there are a bunch of fabric basics - dots and checks and stripes - that make a good addition to any stash.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Yes! My own Accuquilt Go! Baby. Of course even before the delivery man was back in his van, the box was opened and out came the Go! Baby as well as three dies and the relevant mats.

The dies included were the Go! Tumbler (Small), Go! Triangle (4 7/8") and Go! Half Square Triangle (3" Finished). And if you really knew me you would already know that I immediately grabbed the closest bundle of fabric on hand and started getting to know my new toy.

The die cutter was simple to use (no assembly required and no force is required to crank the fabric/die through the cutter). I was soon turning out tumbler blocks from some of my leftover "It's a Hoot" scraps. Piecing was made easy because each patch has trimmed corners for quick and easy matching.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Of course I welcome custom quilt orders; but they can be tricky business! Much discussion and negotiation needs to go into ensuring that the customer's vision for their quilt is exactly the same as what I am about to create.

Now and again a custom order comes along that falls into place without much ado; and truly this quilt was a dream to create right from the first email inquiry to finish!

And although I can call this my creation it was almost entirely my customer's vision! From quilt top design, choice of fabrics, backing, quilting and binding this project was created as specified.

My customer's vision was a joy to piece and quilt. It's a Hoot by Momo for Moda is a lovely fabric range that I had already stashed in my own fabric collection and I truly enjoyed working with the colors and printed designs.

I even love the bright red binding to frame the quilt. It would not have been my first choice of color for the binding but it's sits just perfectly; especially as a frame around the light blue backing fabric. Love!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

These fabrics make me smile! They're absolutely my colors and I couldn't wait to get a hold of this delightful bundle.

This is Monica's second fabric collection and is inspired by Monica's happy memories of colorful displays of sweet mochi confections seen in the Japanese grocery stores when she lived in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

I have put aside the Kansas Dugout Quilt whilst I consider what fabric I will use for the missing side triangles ~ put aside, but definitely not out of mind or sight! You know I usually like to finish a quilt before I start the next.

It's a Hoot by MoMo for Moda

..

But I am happy to make an exception this time; and thought it would be a good time to start working on a Custom Quilt order that came to fruition last week.

My customer's vision is very much a reflection of my own style of quilts and what's more the fabric of choice is It's a Hoot by MoMo for Moda, which so happens is already part of my stash (see Sunday Stash #78).

I spent yesterday cutting the fabric and playing around with the layout, and completed the quilt top late this afternoon. This was the perfect easy piecing project to follow the Kansas Dugout Quilt from earlier this week with its bias edges and fiddly complicated seams.

I love how this quilt top has turned out! The colors and printed designs from this single fabric collection all work so well together that no other fabrics were added.